Ford Wins In Landslide
Harrison Ford wins the Pick The Pop Culture President contest for his performance as James Marshall in "Air Force One."
Published: November 4, 2008
While Americans got to choose between an aging maverick and a youthful change agent, the fictional favorite in our Pick the Pop Culture President is a handsome, rugged take-charge man of action.
We started with 16 fictional Oval Office occupants from film and television, ranging from Henry Fonda's grim commander in chief in the Cold War thriller "Fail Safe" to Jack Nicholson's goofy President Jack Dale in the sci-fi satire "Mars Attacks!"
Making a strong showing during our elimination rounds where idealistic liberals such as Martin Sheen's Josiah Bartlett from "The West Wing" and Dennis Haysbert's David Palmer from "24."
Also advancing was Morgan Freeman's compelling Tom Beck from "Deep Impact" and Michael Douglas' romantic widower Andrew Shepherd from "The American President."
But it finally came down to Bill Pullman's Thomas J. Whitmore in "Independence Day," a cool head in a time of crisis who personally shot down alien invaders, and Harrison Ford's James Marshall in "Air Force One," a guy who personally kicked the butts of terrorists.
Thousands of votes were cast throughout the election, with Ford taking the final face-off with Pullman with 68 percent of the vote.
In our armchair analysis of this election, we surmise his victory is based on our impression of the actor and not the role.
We know Harrison Ford. We love him. We trust him.
We've seen him handle evil empires in faraway galaxies as Han Solo in "Star Wars." We know that, like Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," he can get out of tough spots. His foreign policy expertise was evident when he was Jack Ryan in "Patriot Games," and his dogged determination to beat all odds was proven as Richard Kimble in "The Fugitive."
In "Air Force One," Ford's president is a former Medal of Honor winner who has told the world that he will never negotiate with terrorists. And when Russian neo-nationalists take over the president's jet, he ends up single-handedly taking down the thugs.
We don't know if he is a liberal or a conservative; if he has raised or lowered taxes, or if he would give Joe the Plumber a cabinet post. What we do know is he looks good in a suit and he doesn't take crap from terrorists.
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